The nail polish challenge

Someone once told me that nail polish is one symbol of femininity. And there's a good reason. To be able to keep them on, you handle things more carefully. You need to daintily pick stuff up with the pads of your fingers, type on the keyboard with your fingers bouncing, basically you need a certain amount of ladylike poise.

Generally, only women wear nail polish, with the possible exception of girly emo men who want their nails to look dead.

Now, I'm not as inept as you think. I've worn nail polish before, maybe for the prom or some special occasions. This also wasn't the first time I applied it myself. However, my experience with these lacquers aren't exactly pleasant. I'm the type of person who scratches where it itches, and I use my nails to yank open whatever too. But still, I've been a slob for so long, I guess it's about time to force some "ladylike poise" into myself.

First things first, moisturize my overworked dry hands.

Since this is a challenge, I decided to go all the way and use a really sweet and thick hand moisturizer. Afterwards I cut my nails really really short. Easier to keep nail polish on that way.


I got several brand-less polish from my mom's dresser and painted swatches on my nails so I would get an idea of how the colors would look on my hands. They were mostly pearly pink/white shades (my pinky finger nail is bare).


I finally settled for the natural pink look (the one on my thumb). Although the color looks bright from the bottle, it's pretty much a natural shae, and you can only see that I have polish on my nails when light hits it from a certain angle.


I don't think my coat is even. Could it be because I didn't clean my nails with an orange stick before hand?

This is my left hand. It's better looking than my right hand, coz I'm right handed. This required so much darn dexterity. My right hand was a mess! So much polish got outside the borders of my nail. I don't have a picture of my right hand because my trigger finger is in my right hand and setting up tripod just for that shot is a little too troublesome.


A little trick I did to save my messy application. I dipped a q-tip in nail polish remover and carefully wiped it on the polish that accidentally dripped outside my nails. I used acetone-based polish remover, which smells better than actual acetone. After I cleaned it up, I covered with topcoat to protect the polish and (hopefully)
get it to stay.

AND THERE WE HAVE IT! Now I'm forced to be more mindful with my hands and how I pick stuff up. Let's see how this paint steps up to my daily household chores.

Products Used.


UPDATE: My nails survived over a week of regular dishwashing, typing, and rock riot. The first casualty was my right forefinger. I needed to open a knob-less door to let my cat into the house. I had to pick the insides of it, and I had no choice but to use my nails. :(

But overall, a week is long enough for someone like me. ^_^